Our History

There has been an explosion of sports and fitness activity in North America during the last four decades. Girls and women have left the sidelines of the sports experience and ran onto the courts and fields, demanding their fair share of athletic opportunities. Men and women of color are participating in sports in unprecedented numbers. Parents are learning that sports involvement for their daughters and sons can help to augment their academic performance as well as cardiovascular conditioning. Millions of middle-age and elderly fitness enthusiasts are using sports and exercise as a stepping stone to wellness. Yet at the same time, many North Americans are obese and at greater risk for chronic illnesses. For millions of people, exercise is the exception and not the rule. And surprisingly little research has explored the ways that sports and physical activity influence physical and mental health.

CRPASH pulls together interdisciplinary teams of research scientists from the biomedical sciences and social sciences in order to study these diverging trends and their implications for personal and public health.